Mum called ‘paranoid’ by doctors who refused to see her little girl, 4, faces agonising wait to learn daughter’s fate
A MUM who was called "paranoid" and brushed off by doctors now faces an agonising wait to see if her little girl's tumour is deadly.
Clare Maw, 42, said it took a year of going “backwards and forwards” visiting GPs until anyone looked into her daughter's case.
Meanwhile, she believed daughter Evie’s health continued to deteriorate, and the once-healthy child was eventually handed a terrifying diagnosis - a brain tumour the “size of an orange”.
The mum said: “We have been left devastated by this and are still yet to find out what Evie’s future holds."
Evie, now six, has already been left with potentially life-long disabilities because of her late diagnosis, her mum claims.
"She had a shunt fitted for life and has been left with epilepsy as a result of the tumour being missed for so long and being able to grow so big," the teaching assistant from Scunthorpe said.
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The shunt was put in place to help drain excess fluid from her brain.
“Evie is now in a wheelchair as she is unable to walk – we are unsure if this is for life.
The little girl can never be left alone and requires around-the-clock care, which involves taking her to the toilet and feeding her.
“This has completely changed our lives forever," the mum said.
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Evie first started experiencing symptoms in 2022, when she was four years old.
She was very tired, throwing up several times a week and had intense headaches that would last for long periods.
Clare claims she and husband Karl, 32, visited their local GP surgery and hospital an estimated seven times over in the months that followed.
“The doctors completely dismissed our concerns, even calling us paranoid parents and calling Evie a liar," she recalled.
“[They] frequently refused even to see her.”
By November, Evie’s condition had worsened dramatically.
Clare said: “We visited the GP again as Evie had again deteriorated and had even fallen down the stairs due to losing her balance."
But yet again, they were dismissed and sent home.
This has completely changed our lives forever.
Clare Maw
Days later, Evie woke up in floods of tears and unable to move her head.
She visited A&E, and a scan revealed a large tumour on her brain, so she was transferred to Sheffield Children's Hospital.
On November 12, Evie had a 10-hour operation to remove the tumour and has since had two further procedures.
The family are now "in limbo," waiting to find out if it was cancerous and whether she needs any further treatment.
The parents have also been left unhappy by the alleged dismissive responses they received during visits to the doctors before her diagnosis.
Clare claimed: “[In my opinion], there were numerous opportunities for the [doctors] to have diagnosed this sooner.
“All they ever diagnosed her with was possible migraines.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help support the family.
The GP practice declined to comment due to confidentiality rules.
A spokesperson for the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, which oversees GP surgeries in the region, previously said: "We would like to send our best wishes to Evie as she recovers from her operation."
What is a brain tumour?
A brain tumour is a growth of abnormal cells that grow on the organ and multiply and spread uncontrollably.
The growths can be benign, non-cancerous, which grow slowly and if treated are unlikely to reappear.
However, cancerous brain tumours are more serious and some can start in the brain or spread there from cancer elsewhere in the body.
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Brain tumours are also graded on their seriousness, with grade one and two tumours being seen as low risk.
While grade three and four tumours are seen as high risk and likely to return after treatment.
Brain tumors in children: The 6 signs to know
Symptoms will depend on the size of the tumour, where it is and how it affects that part of the brain.
General signs include:
- Headaches (often worse in the morning)
- Vomiting (usually in the morning) or feeling sick
- Fits (seizures)
- Feeling very irritated or losing interest in day-to-day things
- Eye problems, such as abnormal eye movements, blurring or double vision, and feeling very tired much more quickly than usual
- Feeling extremely sleepy (drowsy) for no reason
If your child has one or more of these symptoms and you want to get them checked out, there are a couple of different routes you can take, according to The Brain Tumour Charity.
You can contact your GP who will be able to arrange the right tests and get your child checked for a brain tumour.
Sometimes eye tests can actually discover brain tumours.
However, if the symptoms are sudden or severe, you should go to your emergency department or call 999.
Source: NHS